Argentine National Symphony Orchestra

The Argentine National Symphony Orchestra is the state symphony of Argentina, and is based in Buenos Aires.

Established as the State Symphony Orchestra, on November 20, 1948, via a bill (Law 35879) signed by President Juan Perón, the orchestra was created that it could "constitute the pitch of universal resonance that our music needs, while providing the most effective means of popular education in the arts."

Philharmonic associations had, by then, a long tradition in Argentina, and could be traced in Buenos Aires to the 1822 formation of the Academy of Music and of the Philharmonic Association, the following year. These orchestras struggled under the instability prevailing during the years of the Argentine Confederation, however, and their performances were only sporadic. The German Argentine community helped advance the medium with the founding a number of choral societies between 1852 and 1863, notably Concordia, Germania and the Deutsche Sing-Akademie, and these were complementted by the Buenos Aires Orchestral Society (1876) and the Musical Mutual Society (1894). The latter ultimately formed the first orchestral guild in Argentina, the Orchestra Professionals' Association (APO), in 1919.

The APO Orchestra was constituted as such in 1922, and prospered with its colloaboration with the local Wagner Association, reaching its zenith under the baton of Swiss conductor Ernest Ansermet. The great depression later limited its activity sharply, and the orchestra was nearly closed in 1935, highlighting the need for state support. Accordingly, the Buenos Aires Symphony (today the Buenos Aires Philharmonic) was founded in 1947, and in 1948, the State Symphony Orchestra.

The symphony was created under the aegis of the Secretariat of Culture, and with 92 musicians. Directed initially by Roberto Kinsky, its first concert took place at the renowned Colón Opera House on November 30, 1949; on that evening's program was Ludwig van Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture, Johannes Brahms's Symphony No.2, and Igor Stravinsky's Scherzo Fantastico. Its repertoire was soon expanded to include works by classical Argentine composers, as well, notably Carlos Guastavino, Carlos López Buchardo and Alberto Williams. Apart from its performances at the Colón Opera House, the symphony would appear often in the Cervantes and Gran Rex theatres, and it increasingly featured 20th-century classical music, notably Ottorino Respighi's Sinfonia Drammatica and Sergei Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky; among the well-known guest musicians during the symphony's early years was violinist Henryk Szeryng.

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